ETSU's Jones academically ineligible

The East Tennessee State basketball team will have to get by without guard Jarvis Jones for the first month of the new season.

The fifth-year senior from Memphis has been ruled academically ineligible until the semester break in December and will miss at least six games, says coach Murry Bartow.

“He’ll be eligible to come back and play once he has satisfied what he has to do academically in semester one,” Bartow said Thursday. “We play James Madison on Dec. 5, and there’s absolutely no way he’ll be playing that game. It’s conceivable that he could be eligible for North Carolina on Dec. 8. It just depends on when the grades come out.”

Jones, best known for his perimeter shooting off the bench, played in 31 games last season, averaging 5.9 points in 21 minutes. He was second on the team in 3-pointers, with 36, and shot a team-best 36 percent from behind the arc.

For his career, Jones has played in 90 games for the Bucs, starting eight.

“He’s a senior and a guy who has played in a lot of games,” said Bartow. “I’m not sure what the impact of him being out will be, but whenever you lose guys with experience, it’s not a good thing.”